Headlines in this document: GEESLER, REED LEAD AMERICANS IN WORLD 24-HOUR WORLD 24-HOUR NEARING FINISH  WORLD 24-HOUR: HALFWAY REPORT AMERICAN TEAM IN THIS WEEKEND'S 24-HOUR RUN WORLD CHALLENGE Complete Resuts: http://www.dekeien.nl/docs/index.asp?nav=331 10/12/2003: GEESLER, REED LEAD AMERICANS IN WORLD 24-HOUR  Public dissemination of the World 24-Hour final results will be held up indefinitely due to technical difficulties. However, we were able to get directly in touch with American Team manager ("player-coach") Roy Pirrung in Uden, and he gave us the following information:  The results have been tabulated and the awards presentation is now over.  Official Individual Results:  1. Paul Beckers, Belgium, 270.08km 2. Ryoichi Sekiya, Japan, 267.22km 3. Etienne van Acker, Belgium, 264.96km  Beckers caught and passed Sekiya with less than 10 minutes to go. Sekiya gave chase, and the pair were locked together until the final 3 minutes, when Sekiya collapsed and fell to the track.  1. Irina Reutovich, Russia, 237.05km 2. Galina Eremina, Russia, 232.05km 3. Joelle Semur, France, 227.28km  World record holder and pre-race favorite, Edit Berces of Hungary, finished 4th.  MEN'S TEAMS 1. Belgian team 2. Russian team 3. Japanese team ... 6. American team (21 teams took part)  WOMEN'S TEAMS 1. Russian team 2. French team 3. Japanese team 4. American team (11 teams took part)  AMERICAN TEAM RESULTS:  MEN 1. John Geesler, 11th, 239.313km (148.7 miles) 2. Scott Eppelman, 18th, 230.714 (143.35 miles, personal best) 3. Roy Pirrung, 32nd, 218.38km (135.7 miles)  WOMEN 1. Pam Reed, 6th, 217.04 (134.86 miles, personal best) 2. Sandy Powell, 20th, 196.27km (121.95 miles) 3. Sue Olsen, 26th, 184.08 (114.38 miles)  Pirrung suffered from extreme fatigue from 13-15 hours and lost a lot of distance. Olsen pulled a hamstring muscle but hobbled on valiantly for the American team.  Geesler, Eppelman, Pirrung, and Reed all finished very strongly and moved up through the field in the final two hours. Reed's team-leading late race charge brought the American women from 6th to 4th place during those final hours.  The American team was sponsored by the American Ultrarunning Association, Natural Ovens, and Ultrafit.  We will post complete results when they become available beyond the confines of race headquarters.  -Dan Brannen American Ultrarunning Association    10/12/2003: WORLD 24-HOUR NEARING FINISH  The World 24-Hour has in fact finished, but final results are not yet available. It appears to have been an incredible race throughout, easily the finest 24-hour race ever run on the face of the earth, in terms of depth of quality.  As best we can tell from the final reports, in the final hours Edit Berces of Hungary has faltered and is falling through the women's field.  Russia's Irina Reutovich appears to be on her way to victory.  Themen's race is a nail-biter.  Early leader Valmir Nunes of Brasil has also fallen back.  Japan's Ryoichi Sekura worked his way into the lead through the night, but during the final hour was being chased closely by Belgian Paul Beckers.  The final report, just minutes before the end of the race, was that Beckers had caught Sekiya with less than 10 minutes to go.  One report indicates that Beckers has won, but that cannot be confirmed until we see final results.  Winning distances were projected at about 164-165 miles for the men, and about 147 miles for the women.  John Geesler and Pam Reed lead the Americans, both running great races.  With two hours to go, Geesler was in 12th place, on target for close to 150 miles.  Reed was in ninth place among women, with a projected finish of about 133-134 miles.  Scott Eppelman has moved into second for the Americans, having covered 131.2 miles in 22 hours, on target for a personal best.  Roy Pirrung was about 7 miles behind Eppelman, not too far ahead of Pam Reed.  Also at 22 hours, Sandy Powell was at about 111 miles, Sue Olsen at about 106 miles.  -Dan Brannen  American Ultrarunning Association    10/11/2003: WORLD 24-HOUR: HALFWAY REPORT  It appears the originally-planned regular standings updates of the entire field are not being posted on the local Dutch website. However, after halfway in the World 24-Hour race, this much we can tell:  The weather has been described as "perfect."  Former 2-time World 100km Champion Valmir Nunes of Brasil has a commanding lead with 91.5 miles covered in the first 12 hours, followed by Belgium's Paul Beckers (88.5 miles), and then by fellow Belgian Lucien Taelman and Japan's Ryoichi Sekiya, almost together in third with 87 miles.  24-Hour World Record holder and former World 100km Champion Edit Berces of Hungary has pulled away from an early-leading trio of Russians, hitting 82 miles at halway. Russians Lyudmila Kalimina and Irina Reutovich are together in 2nd, about 3 miles behind.  The leading national teams at halfway are Belgium for the men (with 3 in the top 6), and Russia for the women (with 4 in the top 7).  For the Americans, John Geesler and Pam Reed both set off at a fast pace, running among the leaders for the first few hours. At halfway they still lead the Yanks. Geesler is running in 16th place, having covered 83 miles during the first 12 hours. Reed is 10th among women, with 73 miles logged.  Also at halfway, Roy Pirrung is reported in 37th place at 78 miles, and Scott Eppelman in 50th place at 76 miles. For the women, Sandy Powell has covered over 64 miles in the first 12 hours, with Sue Olsen only a few minutes behind.  We hope to be able to report final results as soon as possible at the conclusion of the race (2:00PM local time Sunday afternoon, or 8:00AM U.S. Eastern Time).  -Dan Brannen  American Ultrarunning Association    10/10/2003: AMERICAN TEAM IN THIS WEEKEND'S 24-HOUR RUN WORLD CHALLENGE  An American contingent will be one of 10 national teams from three continents competing in the 24-Hour Run World Challenge in Uden, The Netherlands.  The event commences Saturday, Oct. 11 at 2:00PM local time.  The American women's team members are Susan Olsen, 46, of Burnsville, Minnesota; Sandy Powell, 46, of Greenville, Virginia; and Pam Reed, 42, of Tucson, AZ.  The American men are Roy Pirrung, 55, of Sheboygan, Wisconsin; John Geesler, 44, of St. Johnsville, NY; and Scott Eppelman, 37, of Coppell, Texas.  An elite field of almost 200 will compete on a flat, 2.5km road loop course in Uden.  There will be individual and national team scoring in this, the first World title 24-Hour race since 1989.  According to the race director, opportunities for live internet coverage will be provided by two local websites:  www.ultraned.org  www.dekeien.nl  As a backup, updates during and immediately after the event will be provided as information becomes available from overeas by the American Ultrarunning Association at:  www.americanultra.org  -Dan Brannen,  Executive Director, American Ultrarunning Association